


We make a good team

by zach_stone



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Babysitting, F/M, Fluff, UDSS2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-08 00:52:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5477042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zach_stone/pseuds/zach_stone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Josh agrees to help Sam babysit, nonsense ensues. </p><p>--</p><p>This is a gift for the Until Dawn Secret Santa exchange 2015!! For tumblr user <a href="http://untildawn-jam-trash.tumblr.com/">untildawn-jam-trash</a>. Enjoy! :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	We make a good team

**Author's Note:**

> Here's some fluffy Jossam cuteness for [untildawn-jam-trash](http://untildawn-jam-trash.tumblr.com/)!! I hope you like it. This was a lot of fun to write! I love these two dorks so much.

“I’m really sorry, Sam! I totally forgot it was tonight.”

Sam sighed and looked at Hannah, who pouted at her best friend imploringly. “It’s fine, Han,” Sam said, shaking her head.

“I could cancel…” Hannah said reluctantly. Sam had to smile a little at that. No way was Hannah going to cancel plans to go to the movies with Mike (and Emily and Beth, but whatever) just to help with a pro bono babysitting gig.

“No way! You go have fun with Mike. I’ll be fine on my own.” She smiled wider at the blush spreading on Hannah’s cheeks.

“Are you sure? I feel so bad, I swear I forgot we were babysitting tonight,” Hannah said.

“Han. Seriously. It’s not a big deal. I’ve gotta go now, though. Text me, okay? I wanna hear all the juicy details.” She wiggled her eyebrows and Hannah threw a pillow at her.

“Shut up!” she said, giggling. Sam waved and left her friend’s room. She knew it was maybe not the best idea to encourage Hannah like that -- Mike was dating Emily, after all -- but then, what were best friends for? She _did_ wish this stupid movie thing was happening another night, though. The prospect of watching her cousin alone was not exciting. She was walking so fast down the hall that she nearly slammed right into Josh.

He grabbed her by the shoulder, steadying her. “Whoa there, cowgirl. What’s your big rush?” he said.

“Hey Josh. Sorry, I just have to get going,” she said.

“Didn’t you just get here?” he asked, brow furrowing.

“Yeah, I was picking up Hannah. She was supposed to come help me babysit, but she’s going out with Emily and Beth.”

“And Mike?” Josh prompted. He frowned slightly. Sam knew Josh didn’t think Mike was good enough for Hannah. She patted his arm.

“Relax, dude, it’s just a movie. Anyway, Hannah bailed on me, so I’m going to suffer alone tonight,” she said.

“Damn, how many kids are you watching?” he asked.

“Just my cousin. He’s eight,” Sam said. Josh laughed.

“One kid and you need a helper? He’s not even a baby! Eight-year-olds are like, mostly self-sufficient. You make him some macaroni, pop in the Spongebob movie and you’re set!”

“Okay, first of all, you don’t know my cousin,” Sam said, frowning at Josh. “And second of all, it’s overnight! It’s going to be so boring. But somehow I will soldier on. So if you’ll excuse me…” She tried to move around him, but his hand was still on her shoulder.

“Hey, what if I come?” he said.

She pursed her lips. “You want to help babysit?” she said skeptically.

“What? Kids like me, I’m cool!” Josh said indignantly. “Anyway, I’ve got nothing better to do, and you don’t have any other options. C’mon, Sammy. It’ll be fun!”

“I don’t know,” she hedged. “I mean, my aunt might not be thrilled at the idea of a boy spending the night at her house with me.”

“Aw, Christ, not that old-fashioned shit,” Josh said. “Sam. I will swear before the Lord and your relatives that I will be a perfect gentleman.”

She sighed, relenting. “You know what, why not. C’mon, Washington, let’s go. Grab some overnight gear or whatever and meet me in my car.”

“Yes ma’am,” Josh said, saluting her. She shook her head, smiling. This was definitely going to be an interesting night.

**~~**

As Josh crammed his backpack with some clothes and other essentials for a night away from home, he wondered what he’d gotten himself into. When he said that kids liked him, that may not have been exactly true. It’s not that kids _didn’t_ like him, it’s just that Josh didn’t really interact with them at all and had no idea how. But he wasn’t about to turn down a prime opportunity for bonding with Sam, who had been the sole source of his gross sappy romantic fantasies (and some less sappy and more crass ones if he was being honest) for the past several years. Josh tossed his deodorant into his bag and was about to leave when he realized he’d forgotten to pack his medication. Whoops. He shoved the little orange pill bottle into the front pocket of his bag. No need to have a withdrawal meltdown at a stranger’s house in front of the girl he liked. Now _that_ would send Sam’s likelihood of wanting to kiss him to a zero.

He sauntered out the front door to see her car idling on the curb. She made an impatient gesture to him, and he deliberately did not speed up, just to see the annoyed look on her face. She was fucking adorable when she got annoyed. When he got into the passenger seat, she punched him on the arm.

“Ouch!” he said, frowning at her. Rude, but still adorable, he thought. She stuck her tongue out at him.

“I don’t wanna be late,” she said. “My aunt and uncle are _very_ punctual people.”

“Noted,” Josh said. He kicked his feet up on the dash, ignoring the side-eyed glare from Sam. “So, Sammy,” he said easily. “What makes this cousin of yours such a handful? You’re a pretty capable gal, I feel like you could take an eight-year-old on your own.”

“Connor is a tiny demon sent from hell,” Sam said seriously. Josh snorted. “I mean, I love him and everything, but he’s the most devious little kid I’ve ever met.”

“Sounds like my kinda kid,” Josh said. She chuckled.

“Oh, I’m sure you two will get along fine. Just don’t forget, I need you on my side.”

“I’m always on your side, Sam,” he said. It came out more sincere and cheesy than he’d meant it to be. Sam, however, just laughed some more.

“I don’t think that’s true,” she said. “Never forget the great _Star Wars_ versus _Star Trek_ debate of 2010.”

“Well I’m sorry, but I just could not support you on that one,” Josh said. “Friendship only goes so far, Sammy. You disrespected _Star Wars_ , George Lucas, and the entirety of cinema.”

“Oh brother,” Sam said, punching him lightly on the arm without looking away from the road. “You take yourself way too seriously, Washington.”

“I take myself just seriously enough, and you love it,” Josh countered. She smiled faintly, but said nothing. They pulled into the driveway of a modest-looking suburban home, and Josh got a little jittery hum of anxiety in his gut. He wasn’t big on suburbia. He didn’t mesh well with it, he didn’t know how to be serious and polite at the right times. Plus, meeting new people stressed him out. Sam seemed to sense his distress, because she offered him a comforting grin.

“My family’s really chill,” she said. “I didn’t mean to put you off with the whole ‘demon cousin’ tirade. I promise it won’t be that bad.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Josh said. They got out of the car and Josh followed Sam up to the front door, standing awkwardly behind her as she knocked.

A woman dressed in a black cocktail dress opened the door, beaming when she saw Sam. “Samantha! Oh honey, I’m so glad you’re here, come in.” She caught sight of Josh and her smile faltered. “And who is this?”

“Oh, Aunt Sarah, this is my friend Josh,” Sam said. Josh plastered on what he hoped was a winning smile. He was nothing if not a good actor; Sam’s aunt seemed appeased for the moment.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Josh said, shaking her hand.

“Come in, come in,” Sam’s aunt said, waving them both inside. Josh stepped into the house. It was like, absurdly clean. A man wearing a suit came out from the hallway, buttoning the cuff of his sleeve.

“Sam!” he said heartily, nodding to her.

“Hi, Uncle Mike,” she said. “This is my friend Josh.”

“Josh,” Sam’s uncle said, appraising him. Josh found himself standing up a little straighter under the scrutiny.

“Nice to meet you, sir,” he said. Damn, who knew Sam had such intimidating relatives? Before any of them could say any more, a little kid came darting out from around the corner and tackled Sam, climbing on her like she was a tree instead of a very short human.

“Oof! Jeez, Connor,” she said, stumbling backwards. The kid cackled.

“Sammy’s here!” he yelled in her face.

“Yep,” she said, setting him down.

“Okay,” said Sam’s aunt. “We have to go now. A couple of things; I bought a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese, you can make that for dinner. Samantha, you can sleep in me and Mike’s bedroom tonight. Your friend can sleep on the couch, you know where the extra blankets are.” She paused, casting around for something else to say. “Oh! And do _not_ let Connor have his nerf gun. It’s on the top shelf of the closet for a reason.” She gave her son a stern look, which Connor returned with a gap-toothed grin. Josh smiled; he was gonna like this kid.

**~~**

Sam waved her aunt and uncle out the door and then turned to Connor and Josh, who were both looking at her expectantly. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes; why did it feel like she’d be babysitting _two_ people tonight?

“Okie-dokie, kiddo,” she said to Connor. “Let’s get your homework done, huh? Then we can have dinner and watch a movie!”

“Is that guy gonna help me with my homework?” Connor asked, jabbing a finger in Josh’s direction. Josh raised his eyebrows.

“That depends, little dude,” he said. “What’s your homework?”

“Multiplication and division,” Connor said, spluttering a little over the words. Josh wrinkled his nose.

“Aw, fuck no,” he said. Sam was scandalized.

“Josh!” she said. Josh looked from Sam to Connor in confusion for a moment before it seemed to click.

“Oh, shit, my bad,” he said. Then he clapped a hand over his mouth. Connor was cracking up. Sam covered her eyes with her hand.

“No, Connor, Josh will not be helping you with your homework. Go get it from your room and I’ll help you.” She watched her cousin scamper off before giving Josh a stern scowl. He grinned sheepishly.

“Whoopsie,” he said. “Gotta keep it PG-13, I guess?”

“Try G,” she said. He poked her in the side.

“I don’t know if I’m capable of that, Sammy,” he said. She shook her head, trying to hide her smile.

“Then keep it zipped, mister. We don’t need Connor spouting profanities when his parents get back.” She couldn’t help but return Josh’s grin, and it was with reluctance that she turned away as Connor came back, brandishing his homework.

“I hate math!” he announced, slamming the worksheets onto the coffee table. Sam sat on the floor next to him.

“Hey, don’t say that,” she said. “It’s not so bad, I’ll show you.”

“And what should I do?” Josh asked. Sam pursed her lips.

“Just stay out of trouble,” she said finally. He snorted and dropped onto the couch, slouching low and pulling out his phone. Sam worked through the math problems with Connor, patiently walking him through each one and trying to ignore the way Josh was watching her with a fond look. Finally, the homework was done, and Sam patted Connor on the back.

“I did it!” Connor said.

“Nice one, bud,” Josh said, leaning forward to give the kid a fistbump. Sam stood up, wincing at the way her knees ached from sitting on the floor so long.

“Alright, I’m gonna make dinner,” Sam said. “Josh, you okay to play with Connor for like 20 minutes?”

Josh shrugged easily. “Yeah, totally. We’re gonna have a blast, right man?”

“Yeah!” Connor said. Sam hesitated.

“Remember what my aunt said,” Sam warned Josh. “No nerf gun.”

“Relax, Sammy,” Josh said. “I’m totally responsible. You can trust me.”

“I do trust you,” Sam said. “It’s this little stinker I’m worried about.” She ruffled Connor’s hair.

“Let’s go to my room!” Connor said, worming away from Sam and grabbing Josh by the hand. He looked over his shoulder at Sam as he was dragged away, and she gave him a salute, grinning. Seeing Josh interact with kids was kind of hilarious. She was only mildly worried about Josh’s capabilities to actually watch him for a few minutes; after all, Josh had grown up with two little sisters. It’s not like kids were totally foreign to him. It was probably fine. Josh knew what he was doing.

**~~**

Josh did not know what he was doing. He’d been in Connor’s room for all of seven minutes and the kid was already not pleased. They’d been playing with Connor’s plastic dinosaurs, and Josh had thought it would be funny to reenact some scenes from Jurassic Park with Connor’s little plastic action figures. Connor got pissed when Josh kept making his favorite action figures get totally wrecked by the T-Rex, and got even more pissed when Josh said that Connor’s favorite dinosaur, the brontosaurus, wasn’t even a real dinosaur.

“Is _too_ real!” Connor said, huffing angrily. Josh rolled his eyes.

“Dude, it’s not! They just fu- uh, screwed up the bones when they found them. I know what I’m talking about.”

“You’re stupid!” Connor shouted. Josh scowled.

“Uh, _you’re_ stupid,” he said petulantly. Connor threw a plastic dinosaur at him and it hit Josh in the forehead. “Dude! Quit it or I’m telling Sam!”

“Tattle-tale! Tattle-tale!” Connor chanted. Josh was _this_ close to screaming, honestly. Instead, he stood up and walked out of the room. Connor stopped his chanting immediately and chased after him. “Wait, where are you going?” he said.

“You’re being annoying, so I’m leaving,” Josh said.

“But… but you gotta play with me!” Connor said, frowning. Josh smirked.

“I’ll play with you if you stop throwing crap at me,” he said. Connor nodded. “ _And_ …” Josh added. “If you stop saying the brontosaurus is a real dinosaur.”

“It _is_ real!” Connor said. Josh started to walk away again. “Okay, fine! It’s not real!” Connor said quickly. Josh turned back. Connor looked thoroughly defeated, and Josh wondered idly if he was a total dick or the best child-controller ever. He was saved from further contemplation by Sam calling up to them that dinner was ready.

They ate their macaroni and cheese in the dining room, Connor shoveling it into his mouth with surprising voracity. Josh had to admire the kid’s ability to pack it away; Josh’s medication didn’t do wonders for his appetite, so he picked at his food most days. Sam seemed to notice this, but she didn’t say anything.

“You guys have fun playing?” she asked. Josh nodded.

“Totally. We’re like best friends now. I think I like Connor better than you, Sammy.”

“Oh man,” Sam said exaggeratedly, turning to Connor. “You hear that, Connor? I guess this means you’re cooler than me.”

“Duh!” Connor said. He jumped up and tugged on Josh’s sleeve. “Let’s play some more!”

Josh looked at Sam. “You want me to help you clean up?”

“Nah. Looks like you guys are having fun. I gotta say, I’m impressed.” She punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Nice work, partner.”

Josh tried not to preen under her praise. “I told you, kids love me.” He allowed Connor to drag him away again, Sam’s smile playing in his mind as he went.

**~~**

Sam was scrubbing the macaroni pot when Josh crept up behind her and said in a low voice, directly in her ear, “Sammy you gotta hide me.”

“Cripes!” Sam yelped, dropping the pot and splashing sudsy water all over herself. She whirled around and Josh held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t do that!” she said.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, clearly holding back a laugh as he took in her soaked shirt and the soap suds in her hair. “Here, lemme help you clean that up.” He grabbed the hand towel from above the sink and dabbed at her nose. She swiped it away from him and shook her head.

“You’re terrible,” she said. “What are you doing down here, anyway?”

“Connor and I are playing hide and seek,” Josh said. “I’ve gotta win.”

“Isn’t the nice thing to let the little kid win the game?” Sam said, amused.

“Sam. Please. I never let anyone win.” He glanced around and then ducked behind the kitchen island. Sam followed him, standing with her hands on her hips as she looked down at him.

“So are you having fun?” she asked. He nodded, grabbing her wrist and tugging her down beside him.

“Totally. And I’ll have even more fun if you don’t blow my cover,” he said. She laughed and bumped her shoulder against his. They were very close, because the kitchen island wasn’t very wide, so they had to cram together to both hide behind it.

“Relax, I’m not blowing anything,” she said. Josh grinned.

“Say it ain’t so,” he said, and she flushed slightly. “Sorry, sorry. Keeping it G rated.”

“No kids around now,” Sam said dramatically. “I dare say you could amp it up to PG-13.”

“What would that entail?” Josh said. He looked a little nervous under his joking exterior. It was kind of hilarious.

“You tell me,” she said. Their faces were very close. Sam leaned in even closer, their mouths nearly touching. “Hey, Josh?” she said quietly.

“Yeah?” he said in a hoarse voice.

“Aren’t you supposed to be watching Connor?” she said, grinning. He groaned slightly as she leaned away. Sam was enjoying the blush rising in Josh’s cheeks. It was a rare occurrence to be the one getting Josh flustered instead of the other way around.

“I’ll go check on him,” Josh sighed, getting to his feet. “But for the record, I totally won that hide and seek game. And I’m not finished with this whole PG-13 discussion.”

“Whatever you say,” Sam said, snickering.

**~~**

As Josh trudged back upstairs, he couldn’t help but laugh ruefully to himself. Freakin’ Sam. He didn’t think she had it in her to play dirty like that. He poked his head in Connor’s room. “Hey, dude, you gonna come find me or what?” he said. No response. “Connor?” Josh stepped fully into the room, and that’s when he saw him. Connor had clambered precariously up the shelves of his closet and had his fingers curled around the handle of his nerf gun.

“Aw, fuck,” Josh muttered. Connor dropped nimbly to the ground and whirled around, aiming the nerf gun at Josh’s face. He fired before Josh could even react, and a foam dart smacked Josh right between the eyes. The kid had _excellent_ aim.

Connor cackled, and Josh turned tail and ran, because what else was he supposed to do? He nearly body-slammed Sam as he rounded the corner downstairs.

“What are you _doing_?” she said in alarm. Then she noticed the nerf dart still stuck to his face. “Oh no. Josh, please don’t tell me…”

“He’s armed, Sammy. Run for your life!” Josh grabbed Sam by the arm and tugged her into the kitchen again, ducking behind the trusty island. Connor’s giggles followed them into the room.

“My aunt is gonna _kill_ me,” Sam moaned. “You were supposed to watch him!”

“Don’t blame me! You’re the one who entrusted me with a child!” Josh hissed. Connor appeared around the corner and nailed them with a round of darts. Sam shrieked and the two of them took off running again, Connor right at their heels. Josh laughed breathlessly, and Sam shot him an annoyed look that soon dissolved into a laugh as well. She opened a closet door and pushed Josh inside, slipping in after him. For a moment, they just stood there in the dark, catching their breaths.

“One of us has gotta go out there and catch that little monster,” Sam said after a moment. Josh gestured to the closet door.

“Godspeed, pilgrim,” he said. She laughed shortly and then ducked out into the hallway again. A brave, brave woman she was.

Sam was able to disarm Connor with some difficulty, but only because he ran out of nerf darts. At that point, the house was a mess. Nerf darts were everywhere. Sam sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. Some of her hair had fallen loose from her bun, and Josh had the urge to brush it out of her eyes. Instead, he elbowed her and said, “Good work, soldier.”

“Yeah, fat lot of help you were,” she said. “I’m gonna try to get this kid ready for bed. Can you clean up down here?”

Josh surveyed the mess disdainfully. “Do I have to?”

One withering look from Sam later, and Josh was picking up nerf darts and straightening couch cushions. His room back home was hardly a shining example of cleanliness, so he didn’t really feel like he was qualified for this job. But then again, he hadn’t really been qualified for any of this babysitting shit. The least he could do was straighten up.

Eventually, Sam came back downstairs. “Finally got him to sleep,” she said tiredly. “Man, I’m wiped. I’m gonna get in my pajamas.” She went into her aunt and uncle’s bedroom. Josh sat down on the couch, feeling a bit awkward. What came next? He considered bringing up the “PG-13” conversation from before, but he didn’t want to come across as some creep suggesting they hook up in Sam’s aunt and uncle’s house. Luckily, Sam solved the problem for him when she came back into the living room wearing a too-big shirt and shorts, and promptly dropped into the seat next to him, curling against his side.

“Wanna watch a movie?” she asked. He felt ridiculously flustered, but maintained his cool exterior. He hoped.

“Yeah, sure,” he said nonchalantly. Sam grabbed the remote and opened Netflix, scrolling through until she found some documentary on endangered gorillas. Josh scoffed. “Ah yes, the perfect lighthearted film to watch before bed.”

“Oh please. Like you weren’t going to suggest American Horror Story or something,” she said. Fair point, Sammy. He decided the documentary was acceptable. It wasn’t like he was able to pay much attention to the movie anyway, as he was hyper-aware of how Sam was pressed against him, her head against his collar. Feeling bold, he put his arm around her. She just hummed contentedly and shifted her head slightly. He wanted to kiss her, but he was wary of ruining the perfect shimmering moment between them.

Sam was dozing off by the end of the movie, and as the credits rolled she scrubbed at her eyes and said, “I gotta hit the hay. I’ll get you your blankets and stuff, hang on.” She disentangled herself from him and went to the hall closet, returning with an armful of blankets and a pillow. “I hope you’ll be comfortable out here,” she said doubtfully. He took the blankets from her arms.

“I’ll be fine. I sleep like a rock,” he said. That wasn’t even close to true; he was a restless sleeper on the best nights, but he didn’t want Sam to worry or feel bad that he was delegated to the couch. He put the bedding on the couch and then he and Sam faced each other. She smiled sleepily and gave him a brief hug.

“Thanks for all your help today,” she said. “We make a pretty good team.”

“We were kind of terrible, actually,” he said with a laugh, rubbing her back. “But it was fun.”

She let go too soon, and with a little wave she went into the bedroom. Sighing, Josh put his bed together on the couch and settled in to sleep.

He didn’t sleep for long, because his phone alarm went off reminding him to take his medication. Groaning, he sat up and stumbled into the bathroom, pill bottle in hand. He hadn’t been getting much rest on the couch anyway, and he could tell he was going to have a killer backache in the morning. He’d just downed his pills and was splashing some water on his face when a sleepy voice behind him said, “Josh?”

He let out an embarrassingly squeaky yelp of fear and whirled around to see Sam. She squinted at him, looking half-asleep. “Sam! Jesus, you scared me.”

“Sorry,” she said, speaking through a yawn. “What’re you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said, surreptitiously sliding his pills into his pajama pants pocket.

“Yeah, that couch is probably super uncomfortable.” She frowned, and he wanted to kiss the pout right off her face. She looked so cute, all sleepy and soft. “You know, there’s totally room for you in the bed,” Sam said, and he blinked in surprise.

“Is that… I mean, is that okay?” he asked.

“Sure. It’s not like they’ll find out,” she said. “And it’s a huge bed, we won’t even touch.”

Josh wanted to say that he wouldn’t mind at all if they touched, in fact he’d like that very much, but they were both tired and he wasn’t sure he could form a coherent pickup line at this hour. He settled for a shrug. “Sounds good to me,” he said. He followed Sam back into the bedroom, watching as she crawled back under the covers, practically asleep again by the time he’d gotten in the other side.

“Night, Sammy,” he said quietly. She grunted, and he smiled slightly, drifting back to sleep.

**~~**

Sam woke up the next morning to find that sometime in the night, she and Josh had rolled closer to each other, and now her head was on his chest. She flushed with embarrassment, but she also _super_ didn’t feel like getting up. Josh was warm and comfy. He looked peaceful, a calm expression on his features that she almost never saw when he was awake. She wished she could just lean up and kiss him. She thought back to their rather flirtatious exchange the evening prior. As much as she loved teasing Josh and getting him hilariously flustered, she had to admit this whole dancing around each other thing was starting to get ridiculous. Maybe today could be the start of something more? Who knew that babysitting would be the thing that kicked their relationship into the next gear…

Babysitting. Crap. Last night had been total havoc, and if Sam knew anything about Connor, that little twerp was totally going to tattle when his parents got home. Aunt Sarah would never trust her again. Sam rolled off of Josh and nudged him with her bare foot.

“Ugh, your feet are freezing,” he mumbled, rolling over so his back was to her. She poked him again.

“Wake up,” she said. “Connor’s gonna be up any minute, and I think we’ve learned what happens when we leave him alone.”

“Ugh,” Josh said again, but he rolled back towards her, cracking open one eye. “G’morning, Sammy. You look simply ravishing.”

She knew she had ridiculous bedhead, and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t get cute. Up, up.” She flung the covers back, smirking as Josh hissed at the loss of warmth. The two of them stumbled into the kitchen, where Sam busied herself making breakfast and Josh made coffee. He slurped it while he watched her cook, the twinkle in his eyes slowly returning as the caffeine hit his system.

“So my aunt is probably going to kill me,” Sam said. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh? Why?”

“Connor’s gonna rat me out,” she said. “Tell Aunt Sarah all about how I wasn’t responsible enough to keep him from the nerf gun. She’ll be pissed.”

“Technically that was my fault,” he pointed out. She smiled.

“True. But I’m not gonna let you take the fall.”

He shook his head, sipping his coffee. “I think it’ll be okay.”

“You don’t know my aunt like I do,” she pointed out. He shrugged.

A few minutes later, Connor came bounding down the stairs, full of far too much energy for the early hour. The three of them ate breakfast, and then Sam gathered the dishes to clean up. Josh offered to entertain Connor while she did so. “Promise not to let him out of my sight this time,” he added. Sam laughed.

When her aunt and uncle came home, Sam was fully prepared for Connor to be a little shit and rush to tell his parents all about the mishaps that had occurred. However, she was surprised to see that he was oddly quiet about the whole thing, just giving his parents a hug and a hello.

“How was he?” Aunt Sarah asked.

“He was great,” Josh said before Sam could answer. “He’s a cute kid. We had a blast, right, little dude?”

“Yeah! I like Josh,” Connor said. Josh looked pleased. Aunt Sarah did, too. Sam narrowed her eyes at Josh. Something fishy was going on.

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that,” her aunt said. “We were a bit worried… I’m glad it all worked out. Thank you both so much for doing this, we really appreciate it.”

“Any time,” Sam said. “You know I’m always happy to help.”

When she and Josh left to go to Sam’s car, Josh was looking smug as shit. “What did you do?” she said.

“Who, me? I don’t know what you mean,” he said, grinning at her. “I am but a tiny innocent man. I don’t do anything, ever.”

“I’m serious! What did you do?” she demanded, coming to a stop next to her car and looking up at him, arms crossed. “Did you cast a spell on my cousin? Hypnotize him? Wipe his memory?”

“Paid him twenty bucks to keep it zipped,” Josh said. Sam stared at him for a moment before she burst out laughing.

“You bribed an eight-year-old? Oh my god, Josh.” She couldn’t stop laughing, and soon he joined in. When they’d finally composed themselves, Josh was looking at her with that same fond look he’d had on and off the whole night before. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them. Standing on her toes, she put her hand on his face and pulled him in, kissing him.

He put his hand on the small of her back, lips moving hesitantly against hers, and she couldn’t help but smile. Josh liked to play all bravado and swagger, but he was just as nervous and shy about this as Sam was. It was so endearing. When they pulled away, he looked so pleased she wanted to pinch his cheeks.

“About time,” she said instead. He chuckled.

“Finally got my act together,” he said. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”

“Technically, I’m the one who kissed you,” she said teasingly. “So much for making the first move, Washington.”

“Well that’s just because you rushed me! I was totally about to kiss you!” he protested, though he was still smiling.

“Sure, Josh,” she said, stepping away from him to get into her car. He got into the passenger seat, shaking his head ruefully.

“Whatever, Sammy. I’m gonna take you on the most romantic first date ever, and then you’ll see. I can make moves.” He leaned over the gearshift and kissed her again. “See? Moves. Being made.”

She turned a bit pink. “Point taken,” she said. “I’m holding you to that date, though. I expect nothing but the best.”

“Oh, you’ll be blown away,” he said. “I’m gonna wine and dine ya, Sam. And none of that G-rated nonsense this time. We’re PG-13ing this shit.”

She smirked, starting the engine and pulling out to drive away. “Very romantic,” she said.

He hummed happily, and after a moment he said, “You were right, last night. We do make a good team.”

“As long as there’s no babysitting involved,” she added.

“Oh god, never again,” he agreed. She smiled. When Josh leaned over to peck her on the cheek, things felt absolutely right.


End file.
